How much are you worth?

Lately, I've really been wrestling with these questions:  What am I worth, what is my value, and how is it measured?  It is certainly a penetrating question that should not be simply glanced over.  In my attempt to answer these questions I was thinking about all the things in my life that I have accomplished or done that I'm especially proud of.  In particular I focused on the things that would be most impressive to others.  I began feeling pretty proud of how much I have accomplished in this life and all the cool adventures and experiences that I've had.  At one point, I even had the feeling that if people knew all that I had accomplished, they would think extremely highly of me.  Then I began to realize the seriousness of my situation.  I was boosting my view of myself by focusing on the achievements in my life.  By valuing my successes so highly, I had begun to base my worth on what others thought of me and the experiences that I have had in my life.  I had inadvertently traded the value I have in Christ with the worth that I perceived in my accomplishments. 

I would wager that there is a tendency in all of us to find our purpose in the things that we do.  It is a constant struggle for Christians to keep God at the center of our lives, as there are many things in our lives that continue to vie for our attention.  I know personally there are many things that I will often place before God rather than keeping God at the center.  I think this is why God detests pride.  Pride makes us find our value and worth in things that we can accomplish and achieve.  It creates in us a selfishness that makes it impossible for us to think of others.  Pride creates this false-self that roots itself in our own accomplishments rather than rooting ourselves in Christ.  There is a huge danger in this way of thinking.  If we root ourselves in our accomplishments and abilities, then when we fail to succeed in those areas our self-worth is affected drastically.  I think this is exactly what Proverbs 16:18 is referring to when it says, "pride goes before destruction."  If we are proud of something, we begin to base our value on that thing.  Then, if we fail to succeed, it is only natural for us to feel our value begin to diminish.

I think that this mindset of defining ourselves by what we have accomplished is widespread.  One of the most common questions that people ask is "What do you do?"  It is as though, by answering that question, one can know who you are.  It is apparent that as a culture we have tied the things that we do to who we are as a person.  We define ourselves by our accomplishments and our jobs.  There is a great commercial right now where someone asks this guy what he does.  The man begins thinking about what it is that he does.  There are several scenes of him fishing, picking up lumber, having a good time, and finally ends with him never really giving an answer.  This is exactly how we should be thinking.  The things that we do certainly tell something about who we are, but they do not define who we are.  Our accomplishments and activities should not be the things that give us our purpose in life.  Our worth should be based solely on the love and adoration given to us by Christ.  We are image bearers of God.  We were bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus.  We have been called coheirs with Christ and adopted sons and daughters of God.  This is where we should find our worth.  Anything less is selling ourselves short.  When we find our worth and value in other things we are trusting in things that simply will not last.  Being rooted in Christ and finding our worth in Him is not as simple as an on/off switch, but it is a constant struggle and a daily surrender.  Personally, I must daily remind myself that my value is rooted in Jesus and cannot be found in the accomplishments of my life.  It is a matter of confidence in Christ rather than pride in myself.